A non-commercial guide to organic gardening in the mid-Atlantic states, with some specifics to central Virginia..and some information applicable across the country! Or to other time zones! Across the seas! Who knew?
"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden." Thomas Jefferson

Central Virginia Organic Gardener

"And 'tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes." - William Wordsworth, 1798

Thursday, February 14, 2013

The Flora of Virginia

OK, I know this is late (for Valentine's Day and my Wednesday Lagniappe series), but if you have a Virginia Lover who loves the garden and the great outdoors, skip the environmentally unsound, chemically sprayed, hothouse roses with no scent and calorie filled treats and get him or her this book. Decades in the making, the Flora of Virginia documents every plant in Virginia (excluding some exotic annuals and perennials) that have a recorded presence in the state. Not "light reading," this book is helpful for identifying plants in Virgina (and nearby states) and is useful for naturalists, gardeners, educators and botanical art enthusiasts! It also will help you learn your botanical Latin and other terms, ecological regions of the state, and much more! One of my favorite features is 50 great places to find Virginia plants. I previously disliked the idea of "bucket lists," but now I have one!

No comments:

Search This Blog

Garden Quotes

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Cicero

"The only thing two gardeners agree on is that the third is wrong." Mike McGrath

" If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.” Audra Foveo

"The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies" G. Jekyll

"What I like about gardening is that it makes a mockery of intentions" Mirabel Osler

"The best place to find God is in the garden. You can dig for him there." George Bernard Shaw

"A familiar irony of horticulture is that gardeners desire plants that are the most difficult to obtain." Judith Sumner, 2004

"A traveller should be a botanist, for in all views plants form the chief embellishment." Ch. Darwin, 1839

"How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existance" Benjamin Disraeli, 1845

"Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time." Georgia O'Keeffe

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change" Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama), 5th Century B.C.E.

"Whatsoever whether great or small ugly or handsom sweet or stinking... everything in the universe appears beautifull to mee." John Bartram, 1740

"In my examination of orchids, hardly any fact has so much struck me as the endless diversity of structure for gaining the very same end, namely, the fertilization of one flower by the pollen of another." Charles Darwin

"Who has ever dreamed of finding an utilitarian purpose in the forms and colours of flowers?" Thomas Huxley

"When I observe the fate of Botanists, upon my word I doubt whether to call them sane or mad in their devotion to plants" Linnaeus 1737

About Me

I am a 50-something mother of one involved in all sorts of pursuits, from gardening to crafting to botanical illustration and I teach part time at a local University. I believe in organic as a method and way of life and making and growing things as a way to keep me happy!